Swimming Home
by Dlbn
Summary: Soubi must save Ritsuka before Septimal Moon corrupts him. But he just may be too late. *compaion fic to "Somebody That I Used To Know"


Dlbn: This is the companion fic to "Somebody That I Used to Know".

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Soubi, Ritsuka, or anyone/anything else from loveless. They belong to Yun Kouga. The song used as inspiration was "Swimming Home" by Evanescence. I do not own that either. I make NO money off of writing this fic.

000

There wasn't much Agatsuma Soubi could say or do or think when he first saw Aoyagi Ritsuka roaming around Seven Voices Academy for the first time. Accompanied by a small, brunette girl with a clipboard and pen, the youngest of the Aoyagi brothers was dressed in complete black and had a look on his face that Soubi wanted to make go away, so they'd never have to see again. Ritsuka didn't seem interested in his surroundings, or what the girl sprouted off about the day's agenda, and appeared to be just going through the motions. He hid in another hallway to avoid being spotted by the plum-eyed teen and the girl with him. Soubi watched and listened as the two past, hearing the girl go on about a Septimal Moon meeting that Ritsuka was required to attend with the others. Septimal Moon meeting? So then the rumors were true…Aoyagi Ritsuka had joined Septimal Moon in seat Number Five as the Tester.

Anyone else would have said that it was great that Septimal Moon had a full house once again. That they were lucky that Minami Ritsu and Sagan Nagisa had managed to convince the little brother of the former Tester, Aoyagi Seimei, to take his brother's place. Though the idea of having Septimal Moon with a full house once more was a nice idea, Soubi didn't want Ritsuka to be a part of it. Once Seimei had joined and let his name take him over was when Soubi believed that Seimei went off the deep end. The last thing he wanted was for Ritsuka to be affected. To have power take him over until he wasn't the sweet, innocent, loving boy he once was, and make him into a cruel, cold hearted, murderous psychopath. Though Soubi was sure that Ritsuka would never kill anyone, the idea was still clear in his mind.

It took several more weeks of Soubi spying on the black hired preteen for him to gather the courage to go looking for him. He went to the usual spot he would spy on Ritsuka from, only to not see the boy pass by at the same, usual time. He waited until classes let out between classes to see if the boy would show up, but he was nowhere to be found. Was he back in the office?

"What are you doing?" A voice asked.

Soubi turned to see two young boys staring up at him.

"I'm sorry?" He asked softly.

"We've seen you here every day for the past month and a half." The one on the left, with black hair, informed.

"You've been watching him, haven't you? Number Five?" The one on the right, with green hair, added.

"Um…"

"You don't have to tell us. It's creepy either way."

"If you want to see him so badly, then go do it." The one on the right smirked. "Don't hold back, Agatsuma Soubi. You aren't known for that."

The two boys turned and walked the opposite direction from where Soubi would see Ritsuka every day. The elder male sighed. The kids were right. He couldn't be afraid to confront Ritsuka…no matter how much it had appeared that the boy had changed.

Soubi sighed and stepped out of the shadows of the hallway. When Soubi looked back to where Ritsuka was, he found the raven haired boy without the younger girl in the hallway, arguing with a unit. The unit was a young boy and a young girl; standing side by side and holding hands with their fingers interlaced. Soubi's fingers twitched with the ache of missing Ritsuka's fingers between his. A few kids passed by him and gave him strange looks; making Soubi realize how strange he looked standing there with his mouth partly open and his eyes unblinking. Soubi watched as the unit bowed to Ritsuka in apology before scurrying off down the hallway. Once he saw Ritsuka beginning to turn his way, he darted back into the shadows; too afraid of the thoughts in his own mind to speak the words on the tip of his tongue.

It wasn't until a few days later that Soubi decided to man up and look for Ritsuka again. Of course, it had taken some talking to Kio and a couple of beers to get him the courage to make the decision to find the boy in the morning, but he made the decision, and that was all that mattered. Soubi walked down the halls of Seven Voices Academy again to see if he could find Ritsuka. He hadn't found Ritsuka on his own, so he stopped various kids to ask for him. Some didn't recognize him by his first name, so Soubi had to rephrase and call him Loveless to them. But still, no one seemed to know where he was. Then again, he was a member of Septimal Moon, so they were probably doing what they were taught and trying to keep his identity and location both secret. After asking about a dozen people, Soubi was about to give up his search. That was when he felt something tapping on his shoulder. Not expecting anyone to want to talk to him, he turned to see who it was. He didn't even get to see a face before he felt the sting of a hand crossing his cheek. Soubi's face snapped sideways and he paused a moment or two to blink and gain back his senses before looking to see who had slapped him. He fought back the urge to gasp as he saw Ritsuka standing in front of him. The raven haired sacrifice was still shorter then most people his age, and his ears were flattened against his head in annoyance. His tail was rod straight, aiming downwards, in another state of annoyance. Other students in the hallway where standing and staring; frozen in place and speechless.

"This hallway is off limits until further notice." Ritsuka spoke through gritted teeth, not dropping the harsh glare his plum eyes were giving Soubi. "Get lost, all of you."

They scurried away as Soubi looked away from the eyes of his sweet sacrifice that reminded him oh so much of his sadistic big brother now. Soubi felt his cheek getting red and it took him a moment to realize that his cheek was stinging so much from a cut on it, instead of the slap. Soubi looked back at Ritsuka to see that whatever anger he had been showing before was magnified by the thousands in his eyes. His eyes no longer held the bright light that came from inside and lit up Soubi's world. Now they were just as dark and dank as the soul within Seimei himself. Soubi knew his eyes were probably just as dark; having been tainted by being one with his former sacrifice again. It was a time of his life that he wished he could take back. If he hadn't left, then Ritsuka wouldn't be here; seduced by Septimal Moon's promises and just waiting for the truth to reveal itself. Septimal Moon may have acted like they cared about the boy's safety and wellbeing, but it was only a matter of time before they showed that they only wanted him around to make Seimei jealous, to fill his place, and to keep Septimal Moon whole until they could find a more permanent replacement.

"I'm sorry, Ritsuka…" He told his former sacrifice; hating the weakness in his own voice. "I shouldn't have left with Seimei…I should've been here to protect you…"

"I don't _want_ you here to protect me." Ritsuka replied. "I _hate_ you…"

"I deserve that…"

"You know you're out of place here, right? You're Seimei's, and you have no place at Seven Voices Academy or at Septimal Moon."

"Ritsuka…"

He pulled up the side of his shirt and showed his pale flesh. The word 'Loveless' was tainting the purity of his flesh and making Soubi's eyes burn. Ritsuka put his shirt back down.

"It appeared the day you _left_ me standing there in the graveyard like an _idiot_." Ritsuka glared up at his former fighter. "What do you want? Make it quick…"

"I want to get you out of here." Soubi stated. "I know Septimal Moon convinced you to join them. Seimei went insane after he joined them. After he fell to his name and let power corrupt him…I want to get you away from them before you end up like him, as well." he swallowed hard. "Before it's too late…"

The haunting chuckle that bubbled up Ritsuka's throat made Soubi take a step back. What was happening to his formerly sweet sacrifice? Was his name possessing him and making him into something as dark, evil, and twisted as his big brother became?

"You're wasting your time, Agatsuma." His last name sounded so horrible coming from lips that once only spoke his first name. "I've already joined. It's too late for me already. Maybe if you had been here, it wouldn't be." Ritsuka glanced down at his beeping watch and pressed a button. "I have places to be." Ritsuka turned. "Go away, Agatsuma. You are no longer welcome at Seven Voices Academy, traitor." He started to leave.

"Ritsuka." Soubi stopped him.

"_What_?"

"I…" Soubi paused. "I love you."

"No one loves me." Ritsuka said. "My name is my fate. Loveless." He walked off without another word.

Speechless, Soubi stood in the hallway like a statue; unable to move, think, speak, or even breathe. Ritsuka was really falling victim to his true name. And it was all because Soubi couldn't resist even one stupid order from Seimei.


End file.
